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December 2020 Rock/Pop Record Reviews

Saunder Jurriaans: Beasts
Decca (16-bit/44.1 kHz streaming on Qobuz). 2020. Saunder Jurriaans, prod.; D. James Goodwin, eng.
Performance ****
Sonics ****

While Saunder Jurriaans was writing his solo debut, he became a sought-after soundtrack composer with musical partner Danny Bensi. They helped create the grim, ethereal moods of Ozark, The OA, and Fear the Walking Dead. With Beasts, Jurriaans soundscapes his own story. The result is engrossing.

The album journeys from chaos into a greater understanding, with musical timbres as the storytelling language. The opening…

Analog Corner #291: SME Synergy LP player, Boulder 508 phono preamplifier

Since acquiring SME in late 2016, Ajay Shirke's Cadence Group has moved cautiously. First, it revamped and cleaned up the company's somewhat chaotic worldwide distribution. More recently, the new owners eliminated from the bottom of the line the SME Model 10 turntable, introduced in 2000.

The Model 10 was the first SME turntable to not use the company's familiar O-ring suspension, as well as the first to use the company's M10 tonearm, which was not available separately. The M10 was said to be a derivative of the tapered armtube 309 and, according to SME, a superior performer—though it…

Analog Corner #291: SME Synergy LP player, Boulder 508 phono preamplifier Page 2

I just wanted to hear how the 'table handled the big organ's low end and the recording's overall scale. It was room-filling—you can hear the empty hall—and the bottom end was well-controlled and muscular. Regarded on its own, the sound of the Synergy was "you are there" fun, though when I played the same record through my big rig, with the Anna D, the sound was simply WOW! But come on, man: We're talking about 10 times the cost of the very competent and fine SME player. I hope the Synergy becomes the "analog goodwill ambassador" to the well-off audiophile looking to get into vinyl minus the…

Analog Corner #291: SME Synergy LP player, Boulder 508 phono preamplifier In Heavy Rotation

Sidebar: In Heavy Rotation

Bailen: Thrilled to Be Here
Fantasy (LP)

Milt Jackson: Ballads & Blues
Atlantic/Speakers Corner (LP)

Joe Henderson: The State of the Tenor, Vol. 2
Blue Note Tone Poet (LP)

Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks
Mobile Fidelity 1 Step (LP)

Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks
RSD Columbia (LP)

John Lee Hooker: The Country Blues of . . .
Riverside/ERC (LP)

Daniel Norgren: Wooh Dang
Superpuma (LP)

Dexter Gordon Quartet…

The Classical Voice: Finding Your Way In

How to explain the power that trained operatic voices hold over many of us? For me, the pull began days after I was born, when acoustic 78s of tenor Enrico Caruso and coloratura sopranos Amelita Galli-Curci and Luisa Tetrazzini played in the background. There was something about the way the dramatic-to-the-core Caruso sang, as if his life depended on it, while the high-flying coloraturas skipped lightly through impossible strings of notes. It moved me like little else.

The magic of classical vocal artistry revolves around the ability to seduce with sound while conveying a wide variety of…

The Classical Voice: Finding Your Way In Page 2

Warner's latest high-resolution 24/96 digital remasterings of Callas's commercial and live repertoire honor the intentions of the original recording engineers and showcase her at her astounding best. Sutherland's early-stereo analog LPs for London/Decca (footnote 2) are as prized for their depiction of air, space, and vocal proportion as for the singing itself. Perhaps the only limitation of these "Golden Age of analog" mono and stereo recordings was the need to compress dynamics between the softest and loudest passages to avoid oversaturation, needle skipping, and burying subtle detail…

California Audio Labs Sigma D/A processor

Originally published October 1, 1992

Though their first CD player featured a vacuum-tube output stage, California Audio Labs is recently known for making good-sounding, moderately priced solid-state CD players, like the Icon Mk.II that Jack English reviewed in July 1992 (Vol.15 No.7). The Sigma, a $695 tubed D/A converter, furthers their reputation in both areas.

The Sigma is a straightforward product: no front-panel switches, buttons, or controls. A single LED on the 8¾"-wide front panel indicates that the unit is locked to a digital source. The rear panel has a pair of RCA…

California Audio Labs Sigma D/A processor Associated Equipment

Sidebar 1: Associated Equipment

My reference playback system has remained nearly constant for the past year, providing a stable platform on which to audition and compare digital processors. I auditioned the four processors reviewed in this issue under identical conditions and at matched levels. Additionally, the reference playback system has remained nearly constant for the past year, providing a stable platform on which to audition and compare digital processors. The converters under review fed an Audio Research LS2 line-stage preamplifier, which in turn drove a Mark Levinson No.23.5…

California Audio Labs Sigma D/A processor Measurements

Sidebar 2: Measurements

The Sigma had a rather high output voltage of 3.5V, nearly 5dB higher than the standard 2V output. Output impedance was very high for a 1992 product, measuring nearly 2k ohms at 20Hz, this dropping to just under 1.5k ohms at 20kHz (footnote 1). It was difficult to get an exact measurement of the output voltage into 600 ohms or lower, it dropping as the output stage became current-limited. I noticed on the oscilloscope connected to the Audio Precision System One's monitor output that the waveform was severely clipped when the Sigma attempted to drive a 600 ohm load…

California Audio Labs Sigma D/A processor Specifications

Sidebar 3: Specifications

Description: 1-bit D/A converter with tubed output stage. Tube complement: one 12AX7. Inputs: one coaxial (RCA jack), one optical (TosLink jack). Outputs: unbalanced on RCA jacks.
Dimensions: 8¾" (222mm) W × 4" (102mm) H × 12¾" (324mm) D.
Price: $695 (1992); no longer available (2020). Approximate number of dealers: 96.
Manufacturer: California Audio Labs, Huntington Beach, CA 92647 (1992); Blue Lake, CA 95525 (2000); company no longer in existence (2020).